Submitted by Defasher moderator in axolotl

Imagine if a term associated with your identity was considered an insult. It would sting, right? And every time people used it, they would be reinforcing the idea that people like you are bad and unwanted.

Here are some examples of ableist language: retarded, lame, crippled, crazy, insane, dumb, feebleminded, moronic, spaz, psycho, schizo, maniac, idiot, cretin, looney, hysterical, gimp, nuts, wheelchair bound, freak, weak, invalid (as a noun) and special. Some of these terms were used even used diagnostically in the past, like “moron,” “dumb” and “retarded.”

If you mean frustrating or perplexing – ”This is so stupid!” or “That’s retarded!” –consider:

  1. Frustrating

  2. Pointless

  3. Annoying

  4. Irritating

  5. Obnoxious

If you mean intense – ”Woah, crazy!” — consider:

  1. Intense

  2. Awesome

  3. Amazing

  4. Wild

  5. Fascinating

If you mean bad or unpleasant – ”Wow, that’s lame!” — consider:

  1. Bad

  2. Awful

  3. Uncool

  4. Gross

  5. The pits

If you mean it as an intensifier, positive or negative – ”She’s a crazy good artist!” or “This is insanely difficult!” — consider:

  1. Really

  2. Very

  3. Intensely

  4. Wicked

  5. Considerably

If you mean unreasonable or absurd – ”That’s crazy!” — consider:

  1. Unreasonable

  2. Absurd

  3. Outrageous

  4. Unacceptable

  5. Ridiculous

If you mean to describe someone with a bad, dangerous character – ”She’s psychotic!” or “He’s a sociopath!” — consider:

  1. Dangerous

  2. Menacing

  3. Threatening

  4. Evil

  5. Murderous

If you mean to describe someone who’s doing something a little dorky – ”They’re such a spaz!” or “Are you retarded or something?” — consider:

  1. Silly

  2. Dorky

  3. Cheesy

  4. Nonsensical

  5. Illogical

If you mean to describe something that’s difficult to understand, or totally bizarre – ”These mass shootings are just crazy.” — consider:

  1. Fathomless

  2. Daunting

  3. Overwhelming

  4. Bizarre

  5. Bottomless

Not sure whether a word or phrase is disablist? The answer often depends on the context and situation.

“She’s autistic” to describe an autistic person, for example, is just a factual statement — though she may prefer to be called a person with autism, depending on how she views her relationship to autism. “Ugh, she’s so autistic” to describe someone’s weird behavior, on the other hand, is disablist.

If you’re using a word that refers to disability in a descriptive sense to suggest that something is bad, abnormal, unacceptable, weird, strange, upsetting, bizarre, odd, peculiar … you should probably consider using one of those adjectives instead!

Finally, when referring to individuals, you should always ask how they want to be treated. Along the way, you may learn some useful phrases and concepts that could help you change the way you talk — and, more importantly, change the way you think about disability.

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Defasher OP moderator wrote (edited )

[CW: Slurs.]

Misogynist slurs to avoid:

Bitch. Whore. Cunt.

Queerphobic slurs to avoid:

Fag. Tranny. "That's gay".

Anyone using these words will be banned.

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j0hn_d0e wrote

I'll admit that initially I didn't agree with banning people using ableist phrases, since I grew up with everyone saying it. But I'm starting to understand how its similar to racist & sexist phrases. Thanks for posting this list of alternative words.

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Thebootyholewarrior wrote

The problem with the Language police (in my opinion here) is that the terms of 11 to 15 could be seen as Abielist in some way especially Awful and Gross (both which can be used in correct contexts but as so called abelist and potentially even racist insults) and at least Gross is a insult i remember from my Childhood and Teen years (People who got called gross compared to the clean kids).

−7

ironyburner wrote

Go ahead and ban my burner account, but this is hypocrite BS. A site that has topics such as anarchy, shoplifting, domestic terrorism (antifa) etc is going to go against free speech? I can see being against racism, as that's not acceptable anywhere, but coming from someone who has autism, I think trying to ban words like "dumb" and "stupid" are in fact, stupid. I have no problem with this, and know no one who does. They are just words, you give them power by choosing to be offended, or deny them power by ignoring them. Saying a thing or action is stupid, etc is way different than saying a person is. Insulting people is never a good idea, but trying to ban words is totally against the principles of the ideals you supposedly preach.

In fact, banning free speech is on the order of a dictator or tyrant. Want to be Nazis, then go ahead and make a deal about this, and show everyone you are hypocrites! Way to go full 1984

−14

Ant wrote (edited )

domestic terrorism (antifa)

You clearly have no idea what antifa does.

Here's a super accessible and not-long article on the topic: Antifa History and Politics, Explained

for casual raddle browsers, giving these a look will help you to be more literate on these topics, even if you disagree with what is said

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Pop wrote (edited )

Haha, "free speech" is a fascist tool, and you'd know that if you had any idea what it is in practice

we have a wiki w/free_speech

and articles like this, The Liberal Myth of Free Speech

Free speech is a state-endowed 'privilege' that always benefits the current order, is overwhelmingly employed to protect those in power, and is always a distant dream for people a the bottom of political hierarchies

lol you know jack shit about our principles, just search 'free speech' in the search bar and you'll get a sense

and no specific forum/site owes you 'free speech', each can set their own terms of engagement
in your case 'free speech' just means freedom to be an asshole with no consideration for the ways that language maintains structural power imbalances that harm whole groups of people

if you want to see what 'free speech' gets you, check out shitholes like 4chan, where internet anonymity and free speech combine to create one of the most toxic spaces in the world

I haven't even gotten to why your shitty analysis on ableism is crap but now I'm bored

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